About us

The Federal President Theodor Heuss House Foundation (Stiftung Bundespräsident-Theodor-Heuss-Haus) is a non-partisan institution dealing with our democratic society, its history and its challenges in past and present. Based in Stuttgart, Germany, the foundation is named after liberal journalist and politician Theodor Heuss, who served as West Germany’s first Federal President from 1949 to 1959. 

The foundation conducts research into contemporary history and political education. Heuss’ last home in Stuttgart, the eponymous Theodor Heuss House, is open to the public as a museum and event venue. It serves as a place for reflection, exchange and debate about “democracy as a way of life”.

The foundation was established on May 27, 1994 by Germany’s federal parliament, the Bundestag, as a non-partisan foundation under public law and opened on November 19, 1996. It is publicly funded by the German Federal Government. 

Theodor Heuss (*1884 in Brackenheim; † 1963 in Stuttgart) was a German publicist and politician and the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1959. Initially working as a journalist and later as a university lecturer, Heuss became a social liberal Member of Parliament in the interwar period, but lost his posts at the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship in 1933.

After the Second World War, Heuss was committed to the democratic reconstruction of Germany, serving as a liberal politician and co-authoring the 1949 Basic Law, which still serves as Germany’s constitution today. 

As West Germany's first head of state after the Nazi regime, he advocated promoting democracy, keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive and reconciling with Germany’s European neighbours. To this day, Theodor Heuss remains one of the outstanding representatives of social liberalism in Germany.

The eponymous Theodor Heuss House is a place for reflection, exchange and debate. Built in 1959 as a private home for President Heuss after he left office, it is now open to the public and offers space for discussions, lectures, seminars, workshops, exhibitions and other events. They make the house a unique forum for liberal democracy and for dialogue between citizens. An open house for an open society.

Today, the house is home to three permanent exhibitions. The exhibition "Democracy as a way of life" follows the lives of Theodor Heuss and his wife Elly Heuss-Knapp through nine decades of German history from the end of the 19th century to the post-war period. It shows Germany's turbulent history of democracy between hopeful beginnings, the abyss of the Nazi years and a new dawn after World War II.

The exhibition room “No 1 - the Head of State” is dedicated to the office of the German Federal President. It shows how the President is elected, what his duties are and how previous office holders have fulfilled them. In the faithfully restored living rooms, visitors can see how the first president, a life time friend of the arts and of many artists, lived from 1959 until his death in 1963. It is a monument to modern 20^th century art and living in the late 1950s. 

The Foundation is active in the fields of political and historical research, focusing on the history of democracy and liberalism in the 19^th, 20^th and 21^st century. Its mission is to contribute to the understanding of recent history by collecting, maintaining and administering the estate of Theodor Heuss and evaluating it for the interests of the general public. 

In order to do so, the Foundation maintains the Theodor Heuss Archive and a research and documentation centre in Stuttgart. It publishes several book series and a scholarly edition of Theodor Heuss’ letters and writings, the so-called Stuttgarter Ausgabe.

Our activities serve to communicate and support liberal democracy in Germany and in Europe. We offer a wide range of educational programs for adults, young people and school classes. The Theodor Heuss House foundation thus creates forums for exchange and debate and supports people who are committed to a democratic society. 

The “100 Heads of Democracy” program (100 Köpfe der Demokratie) presents 100 men and women from German history who in their lives stood up for democratic values and for promoting freedom and democracy. With the “East-Western Pioneers” program (Neulandsucher Ost/West), we support people in all parts of Germany who are committed to strengthening democratic life in rural areas and small communities.